Hi
there Visitor!
Welcome to my blog about the Pacific Northwest.
Let me explain the two pebbles first.
My adventure, crime and legal novel 'REDEMPTION COVE' is set
in part in a lakeshore cabin in central British Columbia; along the Yellowhead
Highway west of Prince George. It's wild and beautiful country with hundreds of
deep lakes stretching east-west, having been gouged by the Laurentide ice sheet
as it expanded and contracted during the great ice age.
Like many writers who choose to place their stories in
spectacular places I utilized good old Google Earth for my initial research,
until I felt only the 'feel' of the place was lacking, then went to visit; with
my editor along for the 600 mile ride, soaking up each new mountain vista and
glacier valley. Fraser Canyon in the evenings, when the sun strikes the faces
and lights them in brilliant gold and red hues that morph moment to moment,
puts the capital 'I' in incredible.
Needless to say I arrived at the exact spot I'd chosen for
the 'REDEMPTION COVE' cabin setting from a grainy satellite picture: a grassy
knoll sloping to the water where waterfowl frolicked, near a small swampy area
prickled with bulrushes, and it was exactly as I'd pictured and described.
The moment was surreal.
Not the terrain so much -- as a Seattleite I was used to the
wooded plateaus of the Cascades, and as an Issaquah resident to living beside
lakes, but the sheer presence of the place was jaw-slumping.
My lead character when he was a city-living 13 year old boy
had been awestruck there by seeing Moose tracks. I looked down, and saw Moose
tracks all around me in the soft ground of the grassy knoll. So I walked down
to the shore and waded out, and picked up those two pebbles and carried them
home and have them up on a little shelf above me, and they are an inspiration
to me, a reminder that writing can actually envelope you in beauty. Because
that's what writing is for me, the crystallizing of the vistas in my head.
Anyone else watching have magical experiences with settings?
Send me an email using the tool below.
But this blog is also about the quirky things about the Northwest
and Canadian culture that I also enjoy so much. Needless to say most of them
are due to human folly, such as laws. These gems are courtesy of Dumblaws.com/Laws/International/Canada.
·
For instance did you know you can't publish a comic book in
Canada that depicts an illegal act? Or that in Calgary, costume shops are specifically
banned from selling contact lenses? What's that all about?
·
How about you can't park your car on a street in such a way
that it blocks your OWN driveway?
·
And you can't water your lawn if it's raining.
·
Also you can't drive a car that has a 'For Sale' sign in the
window, you have to take it down when you're driving, and put it back up when
you park.
·
How about you can't pay for a 50 cent item all in pennies?
·
Or that margarine manufacturers can't color it yellow so
people don't confuse it with butter.
·
And my personal favorite:
o When released from a
Canadian Federal prison, believe it or not you are entitled to a handgun with
bullets, and a horse so you can ride out of town.
o
Thanks
folks. If you would like to read my future posts, please use the buttons to sign
up or check me out on my other social media pages.
:- David
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